Jim The Drop (2014) ****In Brooklyn, there's a bar used as a money drop by dangerous Chechen gangsters. Bob (Hardy) works at the bar for his cousin Marv (Gandolfini) who runs the place.Marv had a problem. As a result, Bob has a secret that has haunted him for many years.In the present time, Marv gets stupid again. Placing Bob and himself in danger. Initially, Bob seems to be a timid unambitious drone. He curries obsequious favor with the Chechens. But, he acquires a puppy, then a girlfriend (Noomi Rapace). Someone comes along to threaten both.This film is a quality drama, without the rolling gunfire and chase scenes currently in vogue. Well crafted and well played by the entire cast. Good pacing and effective cinematography. The film is a narrative about the motivation and character of the main cast.In the climatic scene, all is revealed as Bob takes care of his problems. Also earning the respect of the Chechens.Some might find the film to be too sparse. Not enough action and melodrama. But, there is tension and fear aplenty. Clues are there for us to pick over at the conclusion of the story.

Joseph_Gillis which is more relevant here than in most films, and might even be considered a sub-text for it.Perhaps more telling, though, is that the screenplay was adapted by author, Dennis Lehane from one of his short stories; I can recall successful short-story adaptations, but from such as Borges, Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy, and Conrad; more often than not, when adaptations of less-feted authors, the plot tends to be stretched to breaking point, where the screenwriter has too many gaps to fill, too much screen-time to pad, and where the story might not have been all that, to begin with.I haven't read the source Lehane short story, so I can only judge what's on the screen, but two things have jumped out at me after viewing the film: one, the conflict between the story's title, 'Animal Rescue', which suggests warmth and compassion, and the film's title, 'The Drop', which the opening voice-over informs us refers to gangsters practices of using legitimate businesses as temporary storage for illicit funds. But yet I don't believe the short story title is entirely ironic, because so much of the film is devoted to revealing Tom Hardy's lead barman Bob character's care and attention for a brutalised and neglected dog. The conflict between those titles suggests more that Lehane was badly compromised between commercial film-making demands, and the intimacy of his short-story characterisation.The other problem I had is the long slow build up, and what it led up to: it's not quite 'deus ex machina' but I had difficulty reconciling the climax with the characterisations that had been slowly and tortuously developed, over 80+ preceding minutes. Which leads me back to the compromise question again.What I did like, though, was the interplay between Bob and the detective, with the detective using their common church-going familiarity to both try to extract information from Bob, and also to get his message across. There weren't enough such inspired ideas, though. I liked Matthias Schoenaerts controlled-scary performance, as legend-in- his-own-mind punk, Eric Deeds. John Ortiz' insidious quiet nagging, as the detective, is another supporting standout. Tom Hardy was just a tad too precious and calculated for me, although he may just have been the victim of too much low-key screen time. (In character motivations, I could make connections with Charles Bronson's similarly-implausible 'Mr. Majestyk') Not the best swansong for James Gandolfini, though - too much of Tony Soprano,albeit a latter-day tired and beaten-down Tony; I would have preferred him to go out on the movie-stealing high of 'Killing them Softly'. That film had all the mood and menace of this one, and then some. Tellingly, perhaps, it's adapted from a novel.

molkom This was one slow-paced underwhelming film. My girlfriend and I decided to finally watch a movie after only watching series such as Billions, Empire and Suits for the past year. Boy, could we have chosen a more boring movie.While the plot twists are not all bad, the script has the movie play out in a boring setting to begin with, and when the delivery and speed of it is so mindbogglingly droll it just becomes a pain to watch. Halfway in we asked ourselves if we should switch movie or fast-forward, but decided to sit it out. Now I wish we hadn't. Good acting on the most part couldn't save this movie, and not sure anything could. If you're an everyday moviegoer that likes some pace to your movies, beware that this might not be your cup of tea. It certainly wasn't our.

majaho21 The simplicity of the story and the slow- paced narrative of the film are alluring. The film deals with money laundering and the underground life of a normal popular bar in Brooklyn. And the main protagonist is simple, he just "tends the bar", nothing more.The quality of the film lies in the fact that simple events and naive and everyday talk between characters create a tremendous turbulence in the way the neighborhood works. *Spoilers* A simple dog-lover and worker at the bar, Bob, tries to live as normally as possible. He works with his cousin Marv who is a bar owner. However, things have changed after the Chechen mob decided to use the bar for their illegal transactions. While Bob accepts the things as they are and lives within that hierarchy, Marv is desperate and angry because his role in the bar is minor. He just has to obey the orders by the mobsters. Since he cannot accept the situation, he unsuccessfully tries to trick the gangsters and steal their money.Bob's and Marv's roles are tremendously played. While Bob talks slowly, doesn't understand irony, seems to be not very smart, Marv is a boss-wanna-be. He gives advice, guides and bosses the "weak", unwillingly admitting that he is just a pawn figure in the criminal world. Near the end, we are aware the director has managed to "trick" us - there are many tiny plot twists based on our belief that the characters are one- dimensional and predictable. A very exciting (although there isn't much action) and interesting film!